Impressions
by Mesmeric.Midnight
Summary: What if Draco did not take the Dark Mark? What if he sought refuge in Grimmauld Place? (femHarryxDraco)


Anyone else think it unfair in the movie that Professor McGonagall makes the Slytherin students go back to the Dungeons during the Battle? I've always wanted to explore the relationship between the House of Snakes and the rest of the School. There is so much potential there. I'm also pants at writing anything but Het, so Harry is Holly. I don't own anything. ~_Midnight_

Holly shot up from her bed in Grimmauld Place. Wiping the slight sweat from her brow, she stood up to gaze out the small charmed window. She had just arrived from Privet Drive last night and was still reliving nightmares about the night at the Ministry. No longer did she see Cedric's vacant eyes and hear the thud as his body crumpled to the ground. Now, her thoughts were filled with the image of Sirius being swallowed by the blackness of the veil and the cackling of Bellatrix. Then, there was the green light. That color had haunted her life since she was young when it took her parents and changed her life. To this day, it filled her dreams and nightmares. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself and silently treaded down the stairs for a glass of water. Reaching for a glass she stilled as she heard a noise from the front hall. She crept further away from the hall and back into the corner of the room. Suddenly, the door flew open. Wand drawn and eyes alert, the reducto spell on her lips morphed into a look of shock, surprise, and horror.

Standing in the doorway was an anxious looking Professor Snape and a bloody Draco Malfoy.

The Potions Master glanced quickly around the room and glared when he spotted her. Lowering her wand, she quickly brought a chair over to them. Kingsley, Moody, and Arthur burst into the room shortly ready for a battle. Holly was forgotten as a series of healing potions and spells, instead of hexes and curses, were used on the two Slytherins. Returning to her glass of water, Holly tried to absorb what had happened.

"He cannot stay there," said Snape with a loud tone of finality.

Moody looked ready to retort, but was interrupted when his once enemy continued. "You of all people should know how it is to be amongst Death Eaters. I will not watch my godson throw his life away under a madman!"

"I can't house him here Snape! It's too dangerous! Was anyone following you? I know you're a master of the mind arts, but is he?" Holly watched the old peg-legged Auror gesture to the silent young Malfoy.

"He is more than capable. You have nothing to worry about," Snape sneered.

The two old foes starred down at each other. Snape had a tight hold on Draco, who was still looking out of sorts. Moody gripped his wand tightly.

"Please," began Holly quietly, "please, let him stay."

The men whirled around to stare at Holly as they had forgotten she was even there. Kingsley stood watch in the corner, quickly following the conversation.

"Girl…"

"I too agree it would be best for young Mr. Malfoy to stay here," said a new voice. The heads in the room all turned to see Albus Dumbledore standing in the room in purple robes with a grand twinkle in his eyes. "We shall not turn away from those that ask for help, Alastor; no matter how dark they may seem. Ah, Arthur, could you please prepare a room for Young Draco?"

Arthur Weasley stood flabbergasted for a moment before nodding and retreating back upstairs to rearrange the rooms. He was shortly followed by Moody.

"Kingsley, Severus, if you'll please come with me. I believe it is time for a short meeting. Holly," said Dumbledore kindly, "please help Draco upstairs to his new room."

Holly found it hard to say anything to the Headmaster these days, but managed a short nod. She waited for the adults to leave the room before approaching Malfoy.

Her rival of the past four years looked nothing like he usually did. His hair was sticking up at odd angles, like hers usually after a game of quiddich. Silver eyes were unfocused and his posture was not that of a pureblood prince. Cautiously, Holly reached a hand to touch his shoulder. Almost flinching, Draco turned to look at her.

"Malfoy, are you alright?" said Holly.

For a few moments, the two sat in silence before she received a reply. "I'm fine. What do you want?"

"If you had been listening, you'd know that I am to take you to your new room."

Draco made a face before standing up and gestured for her to lead on. Their short walk up the stairs was painfully long. It gave Holly time to think about what she could say to her new ally.

"Malfoy…Draco… I know we haven't gotten on in the past, and that we've practically grown to downright despise each other… but I am sorry. You may not think our situations are comparable, and in many aspects they are not." Holly paused under the unwavering stare from the older boy. She took a short breath to ready herself before continuing. "I just... I know what it's like to make a difficult decision and have your life thrown every which way because of it. I also know what it's like to lose your family…"

Draco nodded once and turned towards his door. A little put off she had not received more of a response, but somewhat understanding, the girl-who-lived turned on her heel and went back to bed. She paused when she heard a soft-spoken 'thanks' float down the hall, but continued on her way with a soft smile.

Holly laid in bed listening to Ron snoring above her, Ginny mumbling in her sleep, and small voices from the kitchen. The short talk with Malfoy weighed heavily on her mind, but she soon succumbed to sleep.

The next morning Holly awoke abruptly. She had always been an early riser (something the Dursleys had drilled into her routine) and over the years had much preferred to be awake rather than face her dreams or visions of someone being tortured. There was also always something on her mind. Problems in school, worrying about her Godfather, the latest gossip about her, and of course how could she forget the Dark Lord out for her blood, and now there was the Malfoy situation. She hesitated to call it a problem, because while they had largely disagreed in the past, he was on their side now, or at least, he no longer sided with old Snake Face. Pausing in her menstruations, Holly thought about her words last night. She said a lot, a lot more than she had meant to say, but none of it false. Pulled from further thoughts by the smell of bacon, Holly dressed in some muggle clothing before heading down to help Mrs. Weasley with breakfast.

-xXx-

Draco was greeted to the sight of an unfamiliar hoary ceiling. He panicked slightly, before remembering where he was and what had happened. His father telling him of the 'honor' he was soon to receive. He had, to put it lightly, freaked out. He was raised to be the perfect Pureblood. He followed all the rules, obeyed all his superiors, spied on Hogwarts and that damned girl, and he knew he would serve the Dark Lord. Yet, he could not do it. The Triwizard Tournament had opened his eyes to many things. He never thought the greatest dark wizard in 150 years would return to life. He never thought he would watch his father turn into nothing short of a broken mess. He never thought he would begin to question all he had known.

Blaise and Daphane had offered much support when discussing his future and possible neutrality. Even, Nott had listened. However, His father had always told him to put family first. It's why they choose the dark side, the winning side. The past had proven wrong though as Blaise pointed out soundly many times last year. What dark lord losses to a baby and has a young girl as his archenemy? Sure he didn't seem to stay dead, but neither did Potter. Draco began to think that the dark side was not the winning side. Did he hate muggleborns? Not entirely; they just refused to understand the old ways or respect how magic should be treated. It's not a game or something pretty. It comes at a cost and should be treated with the utmost reverence. Magic was a part of you.

Moving onto other thoughts, Draco began to unpack what little he had. He had made sure he had a trunk ready to go at a moment's notice. He had a full wardrobe, other necessities, and a few personal items, including the key to his personal vault. His mother had regularly deposited small amounts into his vault so he could be ready to disappear if needed. Merlin…his mother. She was perhaps one of the few people Draco truly loved. To have to leave her alone in the hands of madmen was terrifying.

A short knock then sounded. The young Malfoy moved slowly towards the door; his hand ready to grab his wand. Yanking it open, Draco found himself face to face with the Girl-Who-Lived to Plague His Thoughts herself. Not letting surprise show on his face, he asked, "What do you want?"

Bristling, she replied, "I just wanted to inform you that breakfast was ready. Mrs. Weasely insists you come down." Not waiting for his reply, Holly spun around and walked downstairs.

-xXx-

'Prick!' Holly said in her mind as she went back downstairs. 'Last time I volunteer to get him for a meal!'

"Holly, what did he say?" Turning to the girl on her left, Holly came face to face with her best friend Hermione.

"Oh, he just asked what I wanted."

"I'm surprised he answered the door at all," said Hermione thoughtfully. Seeing the blank look Holly was giving her, she sighed and rolled her eyes slightly before continuing. "He's just renounced his entire family and life as he knows it to come to be with the very a handful of school enemies and well, you. I doubt he's expecting us to be very warm and receiving either."

Holly nodded slowly. She thought that what she had said last night would be enough, but she mulled over their new living arrangements. Being with your worst enemy for the rest of the summer would be unpleasant, like volunteering to serve detention with Snape. Hermione had always been a great at pointing out things that she and Ron missed. She had given Holly a lot to think about over the past year.

She had finally hit a small growth spurt and had been so wrapped up with Umbridge and Voldemort that she had almost missed it. It wasn't until she woke up Lavender and Pavarti one morning, cursing while trying to get on her pants that Hermione had pointed it out. Hips, chest, legs. All the things she didn't have time to worry about! On their last Hogsmeade trip, half of her dorm mates and Ginny had dragged her to a thousand shops looking for a new wardrobe. She had only worn the undergarments and pants out of necessity. She didn't think there was anything wrong with her t-shirts.

Besides her physical appearance, Hermione (and Luna), always had some astute (and insightful) observations. After the night at the Ministry, she had been more angry than sad and too wrapped up in her own problems to realize how aware of others she needed to be. Her friends kept sending her letters, but she didn't often reply in depth to them. This summer at Privet Drive had been good for something. She thought of how Hermione mentioned everything had changed and how worried she was for the upcoming school year. Having Voldemort just appear in the Ministry in front of hundreds of officials meant he was gaining power. And having him on the fringes of your mind and them having him take over were two very different things. It gave Holly the opportunity to truly see how far behind she was in this war. Dumbledore was the greatest wizard of him time. Voldemort had made OWLs and NEWTs look like child's play. Her father and godfather had been animgai by now. And what did she have? A few luck and well placed curses. So, she had thrown herself into her studies, practiced wand movements with a twig, and worked on becoming more fit. Although half her time was spent trying to "clear her mind." She was still pants at occlumency, but had been working harder and harder to become better at it. Plus, the more exhausted she was, the easier it was to sleep through the entire night.

After breakfast, Ron (who had a heck of a growth spurt of his own and now towered over his mother), made his way upstairs with the rest of the teens to continue cleaning the house. Holly suspected it was mainly to keep them busy. With Fred and George gone, it was quieter and more work fell to them. Of course only half of their time was actually spent cleaning.

"Ginny, we need to talk alone!" said Ron to his younger sister.

"I've earned enough right to be here as you have!" she shot back.

"Ron," Holly said upon entering the room, "let her stay. I've actually been talking to Ginny a lot this past summer."

"What?" said Ron in a mix of outrage and confusion, "I'm your best friend Holly!"

"I know that Ron! But Ginny…Ginny knows what it's like to have Voldemort take over."

Ginny shuffled uncomfortably, but didn't leave the room.

"Ron, you prat!" said Hermione as she lugged her newest tome into his shoulder.

"Sorry," he mumbled and moved further into the room.

Once they were seated comfortably, Holly began to speak.

"I'm sorry I've been a sodding awful friend this past year. I almost get you guys killed and then I disappear for the summer with no answers for you. Guys, please let me finish before you comment! I did almost get you guys killed, but I just wanted to say thank you. You guys have been better friends than I could have ever hoped to have."

Interrupted by two bodies throwing themselves onto her person, Holly quit talking as a third person scooped all of them into a bear hug as a cacophony of apologies, thanks, and reassurances came from her friends.

"I know the professor for this year," continued Holly as her friends sat back down. "His name is Slughorn and he taught at Hogwarts many years ago. Dumbledore and I went to visit him before I came here. He's been doing that a lot actually. Writing to me and sending me books and taking me places. I think…I think he's preparing me."

"Holly, you can't mean…" started Hermione, always the first to catch on to things.

"Yes, for fighting Voldemort and fighting this war. Things are going to change this year. We need to be ready."

"Does that mean you're going to continue the DA?" asked Ron.

"I think so, but we have to become more organized. I've drawn up lesson plans and gotten approval from Dumbledore already. We're going to have two sections, an advanced group and an intermediate group. The previous members will head the intermediate group, but Ginny, you'll be in charge with Neville. Ron, Hermione, I need your eyes with me. We'll be heading the advanced group. I've drawn up instructions and manuals for you to read. There's not much there, but it's important. I've outlined spells and even included a calendar to mark our progress. I'll have an informal meeting the second week of school in an empty classroom. It's open to anyone that is willing to learn and has no malicious intent. We'll meet every other Tuesday- what?"

The group of Gryffindors stared at Holly with wide eyes and dropped jaws.

"Mate, I've never seen you that organized or dedicated," said Ron. The girls nodded.

"But I'm so proud!" Hermioned exclaimed. "You've really put in a lot of thought to this and even gotten permission from a Professor. If only you'd show the same interest in your homework."

They laughed and Holly just smiled, not yet willing to tell her friends just how much she'd studied this past summer.

-xXx-

It was late, early morning, when Draco heard another knock on his door. Mrs. Weasley had brought him his meals and given him a small smile, but no one else had been in to visit him. The knock sounded again and he cautiously opened the door.

"Are you just going to stand there?" Holly asked. She moved passed him lightly and looked around his room with undisclosed curiosity.

"What are you doing here?" He asked after he found his voice, sounding hoarse from disuse and crying.

"Couldn't sleep." He blinked incredulously at her.

"That's it?"

"What else is there?" They stood there staring at each other waiting for the other to make the first move. Draco caved first.

"Gah! Scarhead! Get out of my room! It's late and I'd like to sleep!"

Holly stifled a small giggle that was honestly more of a snort. "You weren't sleeping, Malfoy."

He stiffened, "how do you know?"

"How does anyone sleep after they've seen someone murdered?"

Malfoy narrowed his eyes and this time, really looked at the young woman in front of him. She was clad in a large muggle t-shirt and baggy shorts. Her thin legs had a few small bruises and shallow cuts. Potter had always been a petit and tiny girl, but Draco swore she was smaller than the last time he saw her. Long dark hair was in a messy plait and her eyes were tired looking; their green color dull and emphasized by bags and premature stress lines. She looked worn out. Suddenly, he said, "You don't have your glasses."

"Corrective potion. Being "The Chosen One" has its few perks," she said. "Besides, could you imagine me fighting Voldemort or some other Death Eater only to have them fly off my face? I'd die practically blind. And what a terrible way to go! I'd be down as the largest laughing stock since Lockhart. 'Girl-Who-Lived dies due to faulty frames.'"

Draco simply stared. "Do you always take death so seriously?" he deadpanned.

"Death and I are old friends by now, and you looked like you needed a laugh," she said somewhat bitterly.

"Not about your death!"

"Look, I don't want to disturb you. I just thought you'd like to talk to someone that understands. So, tell me right now if you want me to leave."

He struggled for a moment, but managed to get out something along the lines of 'it's fine/you can stay/I don't care.'

"I know you think that no one in the world understands the pain and torture you're going through. You grow up your whole life thinking someone is right and it turns out nothing is right at all. You betray your family and give up everything you've ever known and you don't know if your friends will back you up or spit your out. And to top it all off, you've lost a precious person."

"I'm sorry, but is there a point to this?" Malfoy sneers.

"I get it," says Holly seriously. "I truly do. My Godfather was killed that night at the Ministry. Voldemort got in my head and I led my only family and some of my closest friends to their doom, because I made a mistake. Then, I get possessed by the bloody wanker whom only I can defeat, and I realize just how powerless I really am. Dumbledore and this stupid Order have been keeping things from me, and I'm still going through puberty!" Taking a deep breath she continued.

"I don't know a lot about your situation, but you're not alone."

"You're not powerless," Draco finally whispers. "I've seen you do wandless magic. You defeated a basilisk in your second year and fought hundreds of dementors the next. You stood up to a dragon! You hate me. Why are you barring your soul now?"

"A lot has changed Malfoy. I'm not the same stupid kid that met you in the robe shop. I recently realized how idiotic I've been in regards to a lot of things…you, in particular. I don't hate you. Strongly, dislike and very suspicious of you, but not hate. We're the poster children for the two sides of this war, and I just haven't given you a fair chance. So, I'm sorry for everything… Still, don't believe me? Well, I guess I wouldn't trust me either after the five years we've had together."

She sighed and tried running a hand through her hair making it even messier. "Can you keep a secret?"

He raised an eyebrow and gave her a look that would have made Snape proud.

"I'm about to tell you something that no one else knows, not Ron, not Hermione, not Ginny, not even Sirius."

The young blond turned and looked into her eyes. What the heck? She trusted him that much?

"Voldemort and I…well, we're very similar. Don't snort! I'm trying to tell you something important! I grew up with muggles," she started again. "If it wasn't for my mother's sister, I would have been put in an orphanage, like Voldemort. In fact, our mothers did more than give birth to us…they saved us. Still, we didn't have the greatest childhoods, and Hogwarts was like a dream. It was our first real home. You have to look at it from a muggle-born's perspective. Magic is just stories, but then you learn it's all real and you're not abnormal. It's exciting, new, and limitless. The first time I put on that Hat, it wanted to put me in Slytherin, but I argued against it, and the Hat put me in Gryffindor. There are so many other factors that line up with Voldemort's history as well. We excel in the dark arts and both speak Parseltongue. We're also both halfbloods. If I hadn't been given the chances I had been or made the friends that I did, I'd probably have joined Voldemort long ago."

A heavy silence filled the room.

Draco Malfoy had certain expectations when Potter told him she was going to tell him a secret, but Voldemort being a halfblood. That blew everything out of the water. This whole time, he had been following a man that believed in pureblood supremacy and he was a halfblood himself. And then all of those things about the Girl-Who-Lived and the Dark Lord himself. It made his head spin. Holly could never be a dark lord. She's just…so…Potter.

"Thanks for the words of encouragement," she said, eyes shiny.

He hadn't realized he had said that out loud. The Slytherin part of him wanted to keep that information and use it later, but he was on the other side now. His ambitious side too stay away from his father propelled him to tell her what had happened. Fair is fair, right?

"I was going to be marked at the end of this summer," began Malofy quietly. It was all tumbling out now. "My father had told me at the end of the school term, after the Ministry battle, that it was time to declare a side. He truly believed in the Dark Lord's words, but by that point I think it was fear and self-preservation that made him a true follower more than anything. My mother was against it. She always has been. They threatened to kill her if I didn't take the Dark Mark. I couldn't let her to die. I would have to complete the task they laid out for me this year. I never learned more than that, but it would have done a lot of damage. Snape said He would have killed my mother if I had joined or not. She asked Snape to look at me this year. She betrayed his faith and trust. It was late at night when he woke me up. Professor Snape said we didn't have a lot of time, and we had to be quick. No one could suspect his interference, and the polyjuice potion we had would only last an hour. We got caught by a few Death Eaters; they practically live at Malfoy Manor. And then I was here. I don't care what happens to my father, but I just want to make sure my mother is okay."

Draco refused to make eye contact with the girl next to him. She hadn't said a word while he was speaking. He had sunk to the ground at some point, but he refused to shed tears. A large weight plopped down next to him, and he found himself brushing shoulders with his school enemy.

"I hope your mother is okay," said Holly gently. "It was a very courageous thing you did."

Draco was stunned. This was the first time anyone had shown care for his mother. Holly didn't even know the woman.

Sitting on the ground Holly and Draco sat close staring out the window. They had each revealed a little of their souls to one another and experienced a moment of vulnerability few others got to see. Sure, there were still many questions and a few worrisome details, but for now, he thought they might just make it through this war.


End file.
